Not Alone
by BrindyB
Summary: In a freak accident, the group has been split up. While Nick and Ellis try to find their friends again, something is intent on finding them. Will the group find each other, or will something else find them first? /crappy summary, sorry, I'll work on it.../
1. Prologue

**Well, here we are guys! I've been anticipating writing a Left 4 Dead story since I began playing the game (the 2nd, never got to play the first). So, here is the prologue. Keep in mind that the prologue is very short and you can expect the actual chapters to be a little longer.**

**On with the story!**

"Ow, dammit, Ellis, get off my tail, would you?" Nick hissed. The younger man quickly recoiled his foot, which had accidentally stomped on Nicks heel.

"Ah, sorry, Nick."

The two trudged through an old storage facility, intending on finding their other two companions.

_Damn Charger anyways..._ Nick scowled. They had been _right _outside the saferoom door, so close to shutting out the screams of the impending Special Infected, but they were just seconds too late. Nick was pounded by the Charger, carried at least thirty feet before being slammed into a building. His cry of pain was cut short, though, when the Charger started smashing him into the ground.

Back at the safehouse, Rochelle and Coach were already inside. Ellis whirled around to see the creature trying to crush the life out of the conman. In a second of odd heroism, seeing as it was normally the others saving him, Ellis rushed back out into the open. He shouted back for the other two to run ahead, that they would catch up, before slamming the locked door shut behind him.

Once the Charger had been dispatched with Ellis' handy axe, he hauled Nick to his feet.

"Are the other two gone?"

"Yeah. Told them to go ahead."

"Good," Nick sighed. He wouldn't admit it, but he was beginning to hate these people less and less. Almost what you could say was friendship.

_Almost._

So, the two set out to find a way around the safehouse and barricade, to the next section of the town. From the looks of the glimpses they caught through the fencing, it was a storage facility of some sort.

Climbing up onto the roof of a nearby building proved to be their only way. When they reached the top, they both froze.

"Shit..." Ellis whispered.

There was one solitary train track, with boxcars sitting idle on it, amongst at least a hundred storage warehouses, each looking exactly the same as the next. There was no indication of where the other two survivors were, but countless Infected roamed the narrow streets of the storage yard. A tall chain-link fence surrounded the area.

"Think there's a safehouse on the other side of all this?" Ellis asked. As it was slowly getting darker and the impressively large facility they looked at, they couldn't see where it ended.

"There better be," Nick replied quietly. He didn't miss the flash of fear that swept across the Southerners face, if only for a brief moment. Nick turned to Ellis. "Hey, it'll be fine."

Ellis nodded wordlessly, before they finally gathered the will to jump down, into the maze of buildings and Infected.

ThisIsALineSoDealWithIt

After fighting off a small horde, Ellis and Nick began maneuvering through the buildings and streets. They knew the train tracks ran through the yard at the half-way point, and they were yet to pass them.

As they trekked on, they did not realize that they were being followed.

Their pursuer watched with deep eyes. The hoodie pulled up over his head kept the sun from hitting his delicate skin. Crawling along on all fours, he stalked the humans from afar. They were too concerned with thoughts of escape and finding their friends to notice him.

When the two humans turned down a different path, the creature quickly darted out of sight. It realized where they were going and knew a shortcut to get there first. Falling onto all fours, the beast took off running. With advanced hearing, it kept track of every movement the humans made. The soft padding of the creatures running echoed through the buildings, but the humans were not close enough to hear.

Keeping the typical rogue sounds down, the creature stalked the humans.

ThisIsAnotherLine

Meanwhile, Nick and Ellis were unaware of their follower.

"Nick, this way," Ellis called. "I think there's something in this one."

As they knew they were going to be fighting hordes, they searched many of the warehouses they passed. They came up with pills and ammunition, which they gladly took.

"Anything useful?" Nick replied, following his comrade in.

"No..." Ellis said quietly. Nick caught sight of what he saw.

The entire back wall of the warehouse was covered in bloody splatters and streaks. They were clearly caused by melee weaponry, which neither Rochelle nor Coach were likely to be using. The bodies of several Infected lay along the wall, destroyed beyond comprehension.

"Damn... what do you think did all _this?" _Ellis wondered.

"I don't know, but let's not stick around to figure it out," Nick said. Ellis nodded his agreement and followed the conman out of the warehouse. They continued on their path which- hopefully- was leading them the right way.

TheLastLineISwear

The humans turned down the path that the creature most anticipated that they would. He darted away, watching them with eyes that seemed to glow in the shadows that encased him. His lip curled in a snarl. He was outnumbered, but not for long.

If he could get back to the others, they would stand a chance. As the humans continued to talk and mill around, searching for an exit, the creature watched them. His long, sharp claws dug into the soft pads of his hands as he clenched his fists. The humans were headed in the wrong direction now. He would have to race ahead of them to get to the destination first.

Leaving dust and the soft padded sounds of his tread behind, the creature darted forward.

**Welp. There it is. Please review and tell me what you think, I am here to please the readers. If you think there is something to change, or I am not portraying a character well (this is my first L4D story), please tell me! If you like it, go ahead and tell me that too! Any reviews give me a huge drive to keep a story going.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Wow I'm a terrible person and I deserve whatever punishment you guys wish to give. I so sorry, but school and my life just decided to take a dump on me! Luckily, though, school is done and the drama has calmed. Prepare for more chapters! I'm not too happy with the flowy-ness of this one but it is so overdue anyways!**

**Enjooooy~**

"Hey, Nick, be careful," Ellis suddenly hissed, slicing the silence between the two. The conman nearly jumped at the sudden noise. "I think I hear a Hunter."

Listening intently, Nick heard what Ellis was talking about. "I don't think that's a Hunter, Ellis. Sounds... different. Just keep your guard up, okay? Don't know what that is."

Not that Nick would admit it, but Ellis could see he was starting to get a little edgy. Being only half the manpower they normally had, it was unnerving. The yard was fairly quiet, without even the sounds of gunshots that could signal where Coach and Ro ended up. Hearing a scampering creature, growling much like a Hunter or Smoker, did not make matters any better.

YetAnotherLineBecauseTheyWontStayHere

The creature that Nick and Ellis could hear was running all around them, echoing footsteps in the eerie facility. Messy hair fell in the creatures face, which it impatiently blew away with a _huff. _The two kept mentioning their friends- other humans... Though the creature was no longer human, hadn't been in a long time, pieces of English were still understandable. There was a difference between them and the lowly Infected, who would scamper towards anything that makes a sound.

Pattering along in the wet, desolate isles between warehouses, the creature found itself lost. Everything smelled the same, the warehouses looked too alike to tell apart...

Finally, as a last resort, the creature realized it was time to call the others, or it would never find its way back to them in time. Sitting back on its bony heels, the creature looked up to the cloudy sky and released a bloodcurdling howl.

JustPretendItIsALineOkay

Ellis practically jumped out of his skin when the most sudden, boisterous howl was let out. It seemed to carry for miles and have a never ending tail of echos behind it. Nick fumbled with his gun, wide eyes scanning for danger. When the howl finally subsided, the two men looked at each other.

"Shit, man, that ain't a Hunter," Ellis said quietly.

From further away, echoing towards the men in a haunting fashion, another howl was released. This one was slightly deeper and longer than the first.

"Yeah," Nick replied, struggling to keep his voice calm, "and whatever it is just called for reinforcements. Stay close, we have to hurry up and find the others."

SoManyLines

When the howls had ceased their echoing through the warehouses, the creature could finally hear where the others were, along with the humans. The humans couldn't find their friends, no, then they would overpower the creature, all of them would be killed.

Skittering along low to the ground, the creature was on the move again, intent on finding the others before the humans found them.

WowBrindyWhySoManyLines

"Do you think they've made it in?" Rochelle wondered aloud. Beside her, Coach looked hopeful.

"You know those two. I don't think anything can kill them- we just have to find the safe house on the other side of all this. I'm sure they'll beat us to it," the heavy set man assured her.

When Rochelle clutched her gun closer, still not looking confident, Coach chuckled, adding, "And if you think they're gon' die or something, don't. Infected can't kill those boys, you outta know that. Now, about Nick killing Ellis... well, that's a different story."

Rochelle chuckled along, oblivious to the dangers of the yard for a moment. She looked in an empty warehouse, seeing something reflect her flashlight beam. "Hey, Coach, in here."

In the warehouse, the two collected some ammunition. On the way out, however, they turned and saw something on the outer wall, just beside the doorway. Switching on his flashlight, Coach shined the beam over it in awe.

"Oh, I always hate seeing these..." Rochelle said quietly. On the floor below the wall in question was another Infected corpse. The chest of the creature, which appeared at one point to be a man, was sliced open by a sharp weapon. On the wall, written crudely in blood, was a message.

_Alex, _

_I've got Jamie. Heading for the cars._

_Brooklyn_

Sighing, Coach clapped a hand on Rochelles shoulder.

"Do you think they survived?" Ro asked, her mind absorbed by the writting. "Do you think that they ever found each other?"

"I hope so, sweety," Coach said quietly. He calmly steered her out of the warehouse, away from the foreboding message. "I really hope so." He gently pulled her shoulder. "Come on, now, let's get out of here."

Back out in the open, the sun was beginning to be shrouded in clouds. Heading in the direction that, hopefully, was the right one, the two continued on. They stopped by several warehouses, restocking ammo when they could.

It was during this time that Coach noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Rochelle was busy grabbing a granola bar out of a survival kit that had been lying next to a fallen survivor's body. The man had clearly fought well and was prepared for the horde, with a slightly used medkit, survival kit and some used weapons nearby. His demise had been quick- his gun was out of ammunition and his knife was lying nearby, just out of the fallen man's reach. He was lunch for the horde.

Rochelle, chewing the granola quietly, looked over when Coach flinched.

"Was' wrong?" she asked.

"I thought I saw someone run by. Might have been nothing..."

Standing, Rochelle gripped her shotgun while Coach grasped his only weapon available- a sturdy, bloody frying pan.

"It went this way, I think," Coach said. He led Rochelle the direction the shadow had darted. They searched for a source of the shadow, but seemed to find nothing. They were backtracking, but determined to find whatever had run by. If it was Ellis or Nick, they needed to find them to get their group together again. If it was an Infected, better to kill it while your guard is up than let it go and get attacked later.

The sun was quickly fading into threatening rainclouds, obscuring the vision of the two survivors. Rochelle looked down, watching Coach's feet to avoid being lost. Coach had reached back and grasped Rochelle's hand when the downpour began. However, their altered vision caused Coach to trip and send them both falling to the ground.

As they tried to regain their wits and pick up their weapons, Rochelle felt something pass behind her. She could feel the thing run past and the feeling was gone as quickly as she registered it being there.

"Coach, was that you?" she called above the deluge.

"What? Was what me?"

"Something just ran behind me!"

There was a slight pause, and then Coach replied. "That wasn't me, darling. Come on, we gotta move!"

A large, rough hand grabbed Rochelle's and hauled her up. Coach practically dragged her into the nearest warehouse. They shook off and wiped the rain off their faces as they waited for the storm to subside.

"Are you sure you felt something? Positive it wasn't the rain or-"

"No, I _know _it was there," Rochelle replied quickly.

Coach hesitated. "We... we just need to focus on finding Nick and Ellis, okay? Let's try not to get ourselves worked up."

"Okay," Rochelle replied with a sigh. "You're right. Let's... let's go."

Wowokaywhyanotherline

Ellis wouldn't admit it to Nick, but he was still a bit shaken from the ungodly howling sound. He was jumpy, whipping his head to look in the darkest parts of the allies and warehouses. Nick seemed to remain calm and cool.

"Ellis, if you keep jerking your head around like that, it's gonna fall off," he said boredly.

"Sorry, man, I'm just a litt..."

"Yeah, I know," Nick sighed, sounding deflated. "I am too."

Turning a corner, both men sighed with relief at the sight of the rusty boxcars. They had obviously been sitting even longer than the outbreak. Many of the doors were closed, but a few sets of doors were cracked open. Nick headed towards the nearest one.

"We're almost there, Overalls," Nick said reassuringly. He whipped open the door, allowing the dull sunlight to flood in.

Both men were taken aback, however, when a human-like creature darted across the box with inhuman speed and agility. It jumped behind a stack of crates silently.

Nick cocked his gun, and Ellis followed. He leaped up into the cart, fear replaced with adrenaline.

They turned the corner to face the beast that hid behind the crates. It took only seconds for the two to realize this creature was far from anything they had ever seen before. They met eyes with it and gasped in unison.

**tehehehe**

**Sorry I didn't know where to end that chapter and just settled for there!**

**Please review, I love them and they are just amazing for my inspiration~ :)**


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